Naturally, Surely, Precisely, Indubitably
by Amywien
Summary: Elves and dark elves. The classic war and battle. Love and friendship bloom - and so do the crushing of current relationships. Despite the guise of a petty racial war, there is a much bigger threat that sets both races against each other. Rated M in case.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

A circle of light-elven children sat near a rather young elf male. His attire consisted of a dark-green and grey tunic and pants, embroided with silver and gold. Short, well-groomed silvery-white hair sat on the Elder's head, often being scratched by a long staff that he often rests his chin on.

From the grocery store in the village, a female light elf watched the Elder with admiration. He is but a few season's older than she, yet he has excelled so much further than her. Not only that, there was an obvious attraction she held for him. Sighing, she watched the Elder tell his tales, and decided to join him in educating Eva's preserved history.

The Elder saw the elf girl walk by, her yellow booties catching his attention with their clicking and clanking on the pavement floor. The pavement was of a circle-shape, surrounding a giant tree that was the focal point of the village. Shallow water surrounded the loop, and then more pavements were created to continue the actual community. The town itself was of a spherical shape, giving a symmetric and balanced feel.

"Good day, Oracle Yalitza," he greeted as he bowed. He flashed a small smile.

Yalitza looked away for a second, then returned his greeting with a curtsy. "Afternoon, Gale."

A child next to Yalitza piped up, tugging her yellow dress-robes and pouted.

"'_Elder_ Gale', Yalitza, '_Elder Gale_'!" The child frowned as she said that, her scarlet cheeks were slightly flushed and matched her dulled, red eyes.

"Oh, hush Regalicia. In that case, I should be 'Oracle Yalitza' to you."

Gale tapped his staff on Regalicia's head lightly, signaling her to be respectful. Then he turned to Yalitza, smiling.

"Oracle Yalitza, do you have any pre-spun stories you'd like to share? We just had a recital of Eva's mercy, and the creation of Shillien's children."

Pondering to herself, Yalitza agreed. She walked next to the bench Gale sat on. He moved over, she sat, and cleared her throat. Before she began, however, she took note of Gale's staff – how it was a rather awkward looking weapon for a curative-type mystic. Many other mystics of his level and wealth use a more basic glass-looking staff, crystal-like almost. The cheaper staff was more effective for a healing mystic, as some of the abilities it bestowed enabled a stronger endurance or willpower to cast magic. Gale, on the other hand, had a much more disturbing weapon that oddly enough no one has seemed to take notice. Gale's staff was long and had the color of stained blood; the tip of the staff resembled an eyeball with spikes surrounding it. It had a reek of poison and chaos.

Gale noticed her disturbed look and tucked his staff away on the side. "Is something the matter, Oracle Yalitza?"

"Elder Gale… I hope you do not mind my asking, but your staff – where did you get it? It looks rather…"

"Rather what? Common? My staff is just the same as all of the other Elders within my league. Is there something wrong with mine in particular?"

"N-No… It looks –"

Regalicia looked indignant at Yalitza's questioning of Gale's weapon and chimed in, "Oracle Yalitza! I'd _really_ like to hear that story for us! We have to go study soon! So please tell it!"

A little set back by Regalicia's anger, Yalitza nodded. "Of course, Regalicia. I'm sorry – I was just looking at something, that's all," clearing her throat again, she added, "This happened a long time ago, when the tensions of the dark and light elves erupted. I was about your age."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Yalitza picked many a tulip and many a daisy. The much-younger incantation of Yalitza appeared oblivious to the fact she wandered too far off and was in contested territory. The aggressive lireins, spiders, and mushroom mobs seemed to pay no mind. The mobs _did_ seem to mind a fellow elf-type being felling their brethren. Alas, Yalitza was a young, untrained mystic – not even raised a fighter. The mobs, having little to no reasoning logic, blamed Yalitza and became enraged.

A transluscent woman that floated crept behind Yalitza. The woman, a lirein, had long locks of hair wrapping around Yalitza, who didn't feel a thing. The transparent, blue-tinted hair wrapped around Yalitza's neck and legs, completely engulfing them in curls It wasn't until Yalitza saw her wrists did she see the lirein beginning to materialize. Oh, how Yalitza prayed and prayed to Eva under her breath as she struggled. The nearby bushes rustled, and Yalitza cried out for who was nearby, but was met with silence instead. The lirein began to strangle and strike Yalitza simultaneously.

The color from Yalitza's face began to fade. Then, suddenly, an arrow cut right through the lirein's hair. A being similar to Yalitza who bore a dark, grayish-blue skin tone along with pure white hair, in contrast with Yalitza's pale skin and blonde hair, jumped out. Immediately he pulled a sheathed dagger and began to stab the Lirein from the back.

"_Mortal Blow_," roared he, "Dammit!"

After the cursing that came out from the dark elf, the lirein had already dematerialized and faded away. The dark elf began to charge after, but was unable to catch up. Instead, he pulled out his bow – a long, silver and shiny bow. He engaged in a stance and pulled the bowstring. As the bowstring was being pulled further and further, small trickles of light and electricity seemed to be absorbed in the arrow, and thus the arrow was released. The shot was not very good, and the lirien was simply hit in the leg from the electricity – the arrow itself had gone through. Overall, the attack was very ineffective due to the lirein's transparency. The lirein noticed her advantage, and slowly began to slink away from her enemy elf.

Yalitza, gotten on her feet already from the lirein's distraction, tried to heal herself quickly with magic – but it was not very efficient, as it drained her, did not mend her scratches well, and she was too slow of a chanter. She glanced over at the other elf, and tried to thank him. He pushed her. Yalitza fell slightly, and frowned at him.

"It's not dead yet."

"It retreated, did it not?"

"It's coming back. I need to focus on a good shot to its head, and maybe the electricity will blast its head off."

Yalitza shook her head. While she did not realize she was in contested territory, she was well-versed in monster information, or at least the ones within the immediate area. She had a feeling this would upset the boy, but began to speak anyway. "The lirein are wind-based monsters… the electricity you produce won't do anything at all except make the lirein stronger. Wind generates more electricity–"

Though Yalitza was speaking, the elf completely interrupted her and slammed into her, pushing them both to the ground. As she looked up, a giant ball of wind had buzzed over her and the other elf.

"You know magic, don't you?"

"Yes, but I'm training to be an elder – not a spellsinger!"

"Whatever! Magic is magic – do something while I distract it!"

The dark elf pushed himself off of the ground and began to run behind old debris within the area. "It doesn't matter," panted he, "just cast something!"

The lirein began to cast another spell – the same one as earlier. As the lirein was chanting to herself, Yalitza began to do the same, and but had lost in the race of who could finish their attack first. Another burst of wind was shot to the dark elf, but was easily dodged thanks to the debris. Yalitza's spell came out, an ice-based attack, but had only hit the lirien's left leg. The ice began to crystallize and solidified further on her limb.

"Dammit, girl! Why are your attacks so weak?"

The lirien, though had a chunk of ice on her leg, was pretty much unscratched. She ignored Yalitza, as her assaults were petty and harmless, and focused on the dark elf. Liriens were slow monsters, and her prey was an agile being, and so she had to focus on her magic to catch her target.

Fumbling through her dress pockets, Yalitza had found something she forgot she had – spiritshots. These small packets were created by dwarves – who were unable to cast magic – to enhance spells. They were incredibly useful, as they increased both casting rate and intensity of the spell. On the other hand, they were very costly, and should only be used in an emergency – such as now. Yalitza crushed a spiritshot, and her willow staff had a bright, white glow at the top that quickly faded away. She began to cast, and her spell came out almost instantly.

"_Ice Bolt!_"

This time, the ice attack had nailed the lirien directly on her back. Once again, the ice began to solidify. The lirien's new weight had caused her to be even slower, which also greatly fatigued her. The rest of her body began to fade back into reality, and she had lost her initial advantage against the fighter elf.

The dark elf quickly retreated to higher ground, climbing a small portion of a collapsed gazebo, taking the benefit of the lirien's newfound slowness and solidity. He took a defensive stance before anything, as he knew the lirien would attack first.

Once again, the lirien casted her wind bolt spell and beat Yalitza's spell in speed. When she shot, the dark elf avoided the attack – but the attack was not actually aimed at him. At the last second, the lirien turned her back around to hit Yalitza with the wind bolt. It was now that the lirien picked Yalitza as the true threat rather than the dark elf. Yalitza's spell had come out by then, and the powdery ice from Yalitza clashed with the lirien's wind bolt. The two elemental spells clashed into each other, and the ice crystallized into sharp daggers in the midst of it. The wind proved to be the stronger spell, and redirected Yalitza's attack to her – this time much more powerful thanks to the additional velocity and the new shape of the ice. The redirect ice attacks went straight to Yalitza's torso, deeply gashing it along with her arms. Her reaction was too slow to block her chest.

Yalitza staggered backward, then lost her balance and fell on her back. The lirien licked her lips at the sight of blood streaming from the cuts on her newly-targetted prey. The weight of the ice and loss of translucence had made the lirien have to walk on ground – or limp, due to her frozen leg. Quickly, or rather as quick as she could, the lirien tried to come close to Yalitza and strangle her once again with her hair, so then she may focus her magic onto the dark elf.

Yalitza's eyes widened as she saw the lirien's hair strands stretch and reach her throat once again, but her fear subsided as she saw the dark elf charging toward the lirien. She knew she was safe.

"_Mortal Blow!_"

The dagger that struck the lirien was lodged deeply into the center of the ice. The lirien's locks that were wrapped around Yalitza's throat slinked back into the lirien, and the lirien's body slunk down. The ice quickly melted, and the lirien's corpse began to slip away as the wind blew.

The dark elf scanned for any other aggressive monsters within the immediate area, but then deemed it safe. He went through his bag and found a healing drug in liquid form, and lifted Yalitza's head up.

"I don't want it…," mumbled Yalitza, being a little prideful, "I'm able to heal myself. I'm an oracle-to-be."

"Just drink it. I have … friends, you can say, who are coming soon. Just drink it and go back to wherever you came from."

"Why?" Yalitza cocked her head to the side.

He scratched his head, "Just go. You'll die if you stick around any longer, from either monsters or my comrades."

The dark elf hardly looked older than Yalitza, and it was slightly confusing to her. In her village, many warriors did not go to battle, or at least scout, until they were of a certain age. She drank the potion anyway, and felt slightly better. Her eyes fell, coming to the realization that there was going to be a war after all – and that she and this dark elf, simply children, were two of the closest warring villages in the entire Aden continent.

Slowly, Yalitza got up, staggering slightly. She found some soulshots, the physical attack equivalent of a spiritshot, and handed them to the dark elf as a gift of gratitude. Her eyes still looked forlorn.

"What's your name?"

Yalitza looked up, and the dark elf was standing right in front of her. "Yalitza."

"Yalitza…," he paused, "If we ever meet years from now –"

"No, save it," Yalitza spat, huffing slightly in fatigue, "The likelihood of that happening is slim to none. Even if we do, we're destined for battle. For death."

Death…The word had a musky air to it.

"Pray tell, dark elf," Yalitza's tone was becoming noticeably darker, "What is your name?"

He smirked. "No need to get snippy. I did, after all, save you from an early death in the battlefield, did I not?"

Yalitza began to walk away, using her willow staff as leverage. She slumped further away from the gazebo debris.

"My name is Kahlil."

"Then good day to you, Kahlil. May Eva –"

"Shilien"

"….Shilien, watch over you."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"Kahlil…I haven't seen him since. Perhaps he perished after all," Yalitza wearied, sighing and reminiscing, "For a dark elf, he was very kind. Granted we were children, but still."

Gale stared at her, his eyes telling her that he was eager to hear more. Regalicia, on the other hand, looked threatening once again, but quickly regained her composure. "Yalitza," she questioned softly, "Why did he not kill you? Or why did you not kill him?"

Yalitza's eyes became saddened, "He did not kill me because he did not wish to fight a losing war. I did not kill him because I was weak."

"Then get stronger, silly," asserted a voice from behind the giant tree, "Well, then again, you have come a long way from those times. You were eager to be able to fend for yourself after that incident, I recall. You also vowed to be a rather… physically-inclined Elder, as well, after being so impressed from that kid's backstabbing skills." The voice laughed.

Yalitza's face lit up and looked pleased to see a familiar face. She exclaimed a loud, "Roux!" and gave a hug to her as she walked towards the circle of children. As Roux and Yalitza exchanged pleasantries, Gale began to tell the children it was time for study once again. Regalicia and her peers gave an unhappy look in an attempt to persuade Gale, but he was having none of it. As the children left, Gale went to join Roux and Yalitza in conversation.

"Gale!" exclaimed Yalitza proudly, "Roux! Roux! She passed!"

Roux looked slightly embarrassed, which seemed slightly out of character of her to Gale. Curious, Gale asked, "What did you pass, Roux?"

"The spellsinger exam – I'm a fully fledged spellsinger!" Roux shouted out arrogantly, her face becoming slightly swollen with vanity. Roux stamped one foot on the bench, resting her elbow on her knee, which then had her head rested on her hand. "Jealous, Yalitza?"

Yalitza rolled her eyes and muttered, "Oh, yes, _insanely_ jealous. Aren't you jealous too, _Elder_ Gale?"

Gale laughed, "Oh but of course. Roux, oh how powerful you must be! You still know your _wizard spells_! How _dangerous_. Please, don't hurt me with an _Aqua Swirl _or an _Aura Burn_!"

Scoffing, Roux ignored Yalitza and Gale's teases. She took her foot down from the bench and took a seat next to Yalitza. Roux wore a similar set of robes as to Gale – but in dress form – a rich green color with intricate silver designs lathered on the edges. Her staff was of a standard crystal staff – the one that Gale should also be using. She flipped her blonde, pink-tinted hair to the side and sighed.

"Yalitza…We need to get you to S.O.D.A. so you can pass your Elder exam."

Yalitza kicked her feet in the air. "I don't want to."

"Why?" This time it was Gale.

"Elders aren't supposed to be of our age, Gale. Haven't you noticed that?"

Silence. "Well… yes…"

"I know you know why, Gale…Roux, too."

Both Gale and Roux stayed quiet. Roux was not as mild-tempered as Gale, however, and spoke back. "Yalitza, it's not up to us at this rate anyway. They'll force you to learn the healing artes of an Elder soon enough. We'll all be in this war some time soon. None of us like it, none of us want to go in it, but we all have to fight eventually."

Silence went through all three of them. The village didn't seem to hustle and bustle as it used to, in all three of the mystics' childhood. All three of them simply sat in stillness, watching the elven children play instead of practicing their studies. Regalicia was playing a cithara, and her peers watched and applauded her. She was to grow to an Elemental Master, a summoner-type mystic, when she became of Yalitza's age. Elemental Masters – or summoners of any race in general, were very rare to come by, and had to be extensively trained. Regalicia did not appear to be the type to suffer such training.

The peacefulness of the village was much to be desired in the era of war, but it left nothing but sadness and bitterness for Yalitza, Roux, and Gale. Peace gave time to think. Time to think gave awful thoughts. Awful thoughts give paranoia.

Paranoia is not a very pleasant thought for anybody.

"Let's go, Yalitza. To S.O.D.A.," lamented Roux, "Idleness is the holiday of fools."

Gale agreed. "I believe it would be best to go to the School of Dark Arts as well, Yalitza. I wish I could accompany both of you, my childhood friends, but I must stay at the village in case of emergency. I must also pray, hopefully keeping the peace."

"Gale," began Yalitza, "You … you've been to the School of Dark Arts, correct? For your own Elder training, I mean."

"No, I have not gone so close to the Dark Elven territory before."

Quickly, Yalitza's face turned sullen and unconfident. "Well, wait, Yalitza," retracted he, "I believe I have some equipment that may aid you. Roux, do you mind if I borrow Yalitza? We'll be stopping by the storage."

Roux shook her head, and had to go buy spellbooks to study anyway. Before the group parted, Roux winked at Yalitza, who in turned blushed slightly. "Take your time. I'll be practicing my first _Hydro Blast_ and _Fear_ curse. This will be … quite fun, eh?"

Gale and Yalitza laughed nervously at Roux's newfound joy in her violent spells. They watched Roux walk, perhaps even skip, happily up towards the temple. Gale glanced toward Yalitza and stretched out his hand.

"Shall we, Yalitza?"

She looked down at her feet almost immediately, and her face became slightly redder. She hestitated at first, but then grabbed his hand. As he took her hand, he smiled at her, and then she looked away. "I have a gift for you, Yalitza. It won't be as useful as any experience at S.O.D.A., but I do believe it will be of some aid."

"No! Gale! I'm training to be an Elder, just like you and all of our seniors. I don't want to have an unfair advantage – I need to do this for myself," insisted Yalitza. She was lying through her teeth, of course. Any advantage was an advantage – fair or not. It did make her look as if she had a better character, at the very least.

"I promise, Yalitza," hedged Gale adamantly, "There will be no advantage. It shouldn't matter anyway, because you don't cast holy-elemented attacks. You … you're a little special." He chuckled that last statement.

Yalitza quickly retracted her hand from Gale's and retorted, "What is that supposed to mean?" A little genuine anger was showing.

They continued the conversation walking. It was only a short stroll from the heart of the village to the storage area. It was run by dwarves, who ran all depositories. They had a matchless freight system.

"You focus on becoming a primarily "physical" Elder. Not saying you're not the first to think that way – but it's still odd, nonetheless. You carry two sets of equipment. Can you truly tell me that's not a hinderance?"

"Not at all! I need armor to defend myself when I'm alone, and I need a set of robes to be able to heal quickly and efficiently when with others. My staff is also to help me heal, and my jamadhars help me train without being so needy!"

"Elders shouldn't be _stabbing_ people – monsters or dark elves or any one at all!"

They reached the storeroom, and were greeted with dwarves. They seemed to be oblivious to the tension generated by the two bickering elves. There were two dwarves there at the moment, one male, and the other female. The male dwarf was very short and stout; his neck being nonexistent due to the complete coverage of pure, white, braided beard.

"'Allo there, Elda' Gale. How've' ya been taday?" His voice was very gruff.

"Hello, hello. Ah, dear me. It's certainly odd to see you and your sister here, Arin. I'm still used to seeing old Warehouse Keeper Julia and Freightman Chad."

Arin slapped his knee and laughed a hearty laugh. His short, stubby knees looked damaged, making one wonder if they should be touched the way Arin treated his own knees. Gale walked over towards the workbench and rang the counter bell, and rested his staff on the wall. He waited for Arin to come to the other side of the counter's window. Arin gave the boxes he was handling and handed them to his sister and walked to the other side. After fumbling through some drawers, Arin found some documents that Gale had to sign, and left the warehouse front.

There was an awkward silence from all three people in the building, and none of them seemed to know how to fix it. Arin's sister went out to move some more boxes toward the back of the warehouse, and followed after Arin shortly. Gale moved from the counter and walked close to Yalitza. Yalitza diverted her eyes away and proceeded walk toward the exit, attempting bird watch outside from the door. Gale got a hold of her arm before she left, but Yalitza did not turn around. Seeing as she did not turn to look, Gale let go of her arm and walked back to the counter to get his staff and sat on a box. As he rested his chin on his staff, he began to stare at the floor. Yalitza also stared at the flooring, still blocking the entryway and exit.

"Gale…"

Gale hadn't looked up to Yalitza. He debated whether or not to walk up to her, but decided against it based on her previous reaction.

"The floor. The tiles, I mean. They have a pretty pattern. Swords and shields. That's our saving grace, our honor. I wanted to be in the front lines and be of assistance. I wanted to protect others. I wanted to be there in front of you and Roux. Gale, I never wanted to be an Elder. I wanted to be a Templar. A guardian of Eva who wields a sword and shield. Since the very beginning."

Surprised by what she said, Gale looked up and shook his head.

"Then why didn't you, Yalitza?"

"Females aren't allowed to be Templars. The only sword we may carry is only for the ability to sing. Templars are able to heal whilst battling… so an Elder is the closest thing there."

Gale got up after she said that. He began to walk toward Yalitza as well. As he was right behind her, he grabbed Yalitza and forced her to turn around. Yalitza stared up at him with her eyes, cheeks, and button nose slightly red. Gale rested his forehead on hers and then hugged her. They stayed silently in that position for a minute or so, and let go of each other as they heard Arin coming back.

"Oy, Elda' Gale. It's a whole buncha stuff ta carry, so do ya mind if ya two come ta the back? We gotch'yer stuff ready."

Gale and Yalitza nodded, and Arin went ahead. Gale grabbed Yalitza's hand, and uttered to her, "Let's go."

When they got there, Arin had all of the equipment in his and his sister's hands. They both smiled at Gale and Yalitza, and began to showcase the equipment.

Arin had a silver full-plated shield in one hand, and in his other arm carried swords of varying length. The shield was dulled, but had an insignia of a winged sword in the middle of it that gleaned brighter than any night star. The longer sword Arin carried was a one-handed blade that was designed for striking moreso than stabbing, and its hilt carried a twisted design. It looked as if it were designed for the extermination of large beasts, which is possibly where it got its name from – a _raid sword_. The other sword Arin also carried was designed for one hand and it resembled a deep red sword.. It was likely to be designed for higher-level Mystics, both Spellsingers and Elders, to cast much faster, as its largeness and bulk made it ineffective for striking.

Arin's sister carried clothing – robes and some heavy armor. The robes she carried came in a set – chest piece, skirt, gloves, and shoes. The dress was predominately white, a small bit of green, and had accents of gold trimmings. The white portion of the cloth carried an odd floral pattern, whilst the green cloth had the gold embellishments. The other form of garments Arin's sister carried was heavy armor – a one-piece that matched the shield Arin carried. It was a shiny silver full plate armor that had a checkerboard cloth design under it.

Both dwarves set the equipment onto a table inside the warehouse front office. Arin smiled to Yalitza, and then shook hands with Gale.

"It was good doin' bizniz which'cha, Elda' Gale. I haven't done any custom work in ferever – makin' village mandated 'quipment gets tiresome after a while."

"It was my pleasure, Arin. Thank you very much for the equipment. Yalitza, this is your equipment, think of it as a present from me to you."

Yalitza was surprised – she was thinking of just a weapon or something as an early congratulatory gift, but she was proven wrong. An entire wardrobe and weaponry was supplied by Gale. Though extremely grateful, she shook her head unearnestly.

"Gale, I can't accept this. How much adena did this cost you?"

Gale held his index finger to his lips and winked. Yalitza sighed. Although Yalitza appeared to be unwilling to accept the gifts, her eyes twinkled and screamed at the equipment. Her eyes shouted, "Oh, Eva! Let me have this!" but an Elder-to-be has etiquette to follow, and to top it all off, _very_ un-ladylike.

"Yalitza, go ahead and put on your robes. We'll have you wear your full plate on top of it afterwards, but we should go ahead and see if everything fits."

Arin nodded his head in agreement, and checked the time outside.

"Anna," Arin began, addressing his sister, "We need ta go back to the front, makin' sure we don't lose any bizniz. Elda' Gale should stay, though. Yanno, make sure no one peeks or nothin'."

Yalitza stared at Arin disapprovingly, and her face also becoming a slight tinge of red. Gale, however, seemed to agree.

"The boys are still running loose, and I'd rather them not do anything silly, Yalitza. I'll just wait at the door, alright?"

Yalitza nodded. It was embarrassing, but she could trust Gale – they were childhood friends, after all. As that thought came out, she began to second guess herself. Maybe she was being too trusting? What if Gale knew she'd think that way? No, no no. Yalitza's face became a more visible red. Gale looked at her face and smiled, his mouth curved upward, indirectly telling her, "let's go."

Gale grabbed for her hand again, and led her behind a wall. He left her for a second, but came back carrying the robes and armor.

"I'll watch the weapons, okay? Go ahead and try your equipment on, I'll escort Arin and Anna out."

She nodded, and waited for Gale to leave. When he left, she began to take her old robes off. Before she put on her new divine robes, she marveled at the condition of her old mithril robes. She looked at a few scratches here and there, and found out that there was a small hole in the sleeve. All of her old adventures invaded her mind, the times of when she just began her life as an Oracle. There was one in particular that stuck out to her.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"Roux! Roux!" exclaimed Yalitza, a newly-elected Oracle, quite happily, as she held onto a beautiful piece of jewelry. "Roux! Look! It's a necklace – a beautiful elven necklace. I even have the matching rings and earrings to go with it."

Yalitza was quite pleased, as she had found it on the floors of the Elven Fortress. The Elven Fortress was quite literally, a fortress, but it was long abandoned and now inhabited with monsters: skeletons, wraiths, and the like. It lays southwest of the Elven Village. Yalitza and Roux are exploring the fortress together, exterminating pests and laying the restless to peace. While they do their work, they also find a numerous amount of old or lost artifacts – and also some salvageable equipment and loot.

The spirits of the dead come back with some of items, sometimes their most prized possessions to bandages or flowers. Regardless, it cycled items into and out of the economy, and lost goods are never gone. Yalitza, Roux, and many other elves clear out the fortress to prevent any overgrow of the undead, and also to help aid the Dwarves that came to study the fortress.

"It's pretty, isn't it?"

Roux nodded in agreement. Examining the jewelry set up close. "It could fetch a pretty adena coin," she added.

Yalitza kept staring at the necklace, her eyes practically having money-symbols for irises. Roux noticed this, and sighed. "Yalitza, you _are _an Oracle. You shouldn't be thinking that way."

Slightly saddened, Roux did have a point, an albeit obvious one. Yalitza shook her head.

"I wish to keep it, however… I don't need it. Perhaps I'll give it to the church. When Gale comes by later, I'll give it to him. He's friendlier with the clergymen than I."

Roux nodded approvingly and then began to enter a different room. She began to cast a basic water spell on a nearby skeleton. Yalitza pocketed the jewelry set and followed after. As she entered the corridor, she saw Roux casting a final spell before felling the skeleton.

"_Aqua Swirl_!"

A quick burst of water shot from Roux's staff. The skeleton collapsed, and its bones dispersed in many direction. Roux bent down and picked up some adena pieces off the floor. Yalitza stared at the adena and spoke.

"It's funny, isn't it?"

"What?"

"The items the dead drop. I mean, these are based off of what they value, right?"

Roux nodded, then caught on. Yalitza continued,

"I haven't seen much else aside from adena today... Anyway, let's go in a little bit deeper. You can take a break, Roux. I can cover the rest for a while."

One by one, Yalitza defeated wraiths and skeletons, both with her disrupt undead magic and her jamadhars. Roux took out any other pests such as orcs and bats that inhabit the cave. Slowly but surely, they found a rather large beast today, being surrounded by what seem to be personal skeleton guards. These particular skeletons carried a much more menacing weapon and aura.

The beast that Roux and Yalitza stared at was a drevanul demon; tall, flying beasts with a blood-red skin and a sharp tail. Spikes protruded from his elbow and tail tip, and the nails from his feet looked more like claws. The demon had a stomach that caved inwards, but upon closer inspection, the stomach was open. By open, it was by no means _cut_, but it just remained a black hole that was rimmed with teeth. In essence, it had a mouth for a stomach. Truly menacing and its blood-curdling cry sent chills down Yalitza and Roux's spines.

Yalitza figured something was amiss and checked her double checked her documents, and had confirmed herself that there was no sighting of a drevanul demon in the fortress since the original battles that had taken place here. She nudged Roux.

"Roux…"

"I know."

"Can we do it?"

Roux stamped her foot on the ground, "You better be _damn _ready to heal. Of course we can do it."

Yalitza nodded in confidence. Of course, with Roux here, they could do this. Roux and Yalitza are invincible – even stronger when Gale is there. Yalitza began to strip off her heavier armor in favor of robes so she could be able to protect and keep Roux up easier.

"Alright, Yalitza… Keep me healed – here I go! _Ice Bolt_!"

An array of ice daggers formed and stabbed the drevanul demon in the calf, but it failed to slow the demon down. The demon pulled the dagger out of his leg and threw them to the side. The demon was caught by surprise, but in turn became outraged for having a rather pitiful attack launched upon him.

"_Elves_! You fools," cried out the demon's stomach, "I will _eat_ your corpses after I ravish your skin with my hands. I am Kirunak the Blood Fiend!"

"Kirunak… Kirunak… that name is familiar," whispered Yalitza under her breath as she casts buffing spells onto Roux, "Kirunak…He is the source of the skeletons! He was the one who slaughtered both the elves and dark elves hundreds of years ago, Roux!"

"What? Then how could he have slipped under our radar for this long?"

"It doesn't matter, get back to casting, Roux! _Wind walk!_"

Yalitza's wind walk spell had enabled Roux to run much faster than normal for a fair amount of time. As the spell was completed, a gust of wind pushed Roux's shoes, and a small trail of feathers were left behind every step Roux took. Seconds later, the feathers dissolved into nothingness. After Roux had gotten a good amount of distance covered, Yalitza then tried another spell and cried out, "_Root_!"

Entangling roots from beneath the ground had erupted and tried to snare Kirunak, but it had failed as Kirunak simply clawed off the trap. However, this had bought some time, as Roux shouted "_Aqua Swirl_!" before Kirunak had noticed, and took a direct hit in the chest. However, this had not phased the demon at all.

"Roux…! Maybe we should have called for assistance?"

"No, dammit! We got this, Yalitza. Just _keep me covered_ and take the skeletons off of me!"

Back and forth were rays of light and water spewing from the two mystics. One by one, the skeleton guardians had diminished, but Kirunak himself was unscathed. Yalitza's root spells kept failing, and so did trying to put Kirunak to sleep. It was evident that Roux was becoming fatigued, and her breath was starting to become heavy.

Yalitza pulled out her fist weapons and started to stab Kirunak, but also to no avail. Kirunak took this as an opportunity to create havoc, and stabbed Yalitza. Falling to her knees, Yalitza clutched her stomach and tried to utter a healing spell, but that had also failed. Roux tried to create a wind shackle to clutch the demon's hands, but he overpowered both mystics in terms of magic and raw strength. Kirunak stomped on Yalitza's right hand after she shifted her weight to her arms, and then fell on her face. Kirunak picked her up by the neck.

"Yalitza!" cried Roux, what more could she say?

"Stupid, stupid elf. I have been in waiting for over three hundred years. What makes you think you could overpower me?" Kirunak scoffed, then threw Yalitza to the wall. She fell unconscious.

"Oh, oh Eva…" Roux had began to panic. "_Aqua Swirl_! _Solar Spark_! Something, something!"

Roux chanted and screamed, but only droplets of water and sparks came out of her staff. Roux, terrified, simply sat where she was. She had exhausted all of her magic power at the moment, and with no potions to help gain her vigor or spiritshots to amplify her magic, then what more could be done to help? Contemplating and contemplating… Roux did have the idea in the back of her mind that she could run. Run. Yalitza will die, but Roux will run. And that is what she did.

Scrambling back to her feet, Roux ran toward the stairs while Kirunak glided after her. As Roux stepped foot on the top level of the staircase, Kirunak stopped following her and landed on his feet. He waved Roux goodbye.

"Ohoho. I commend you, little elf," Kirunak began, chuckling, "I assure you, you are no coward. It is simply the instinct to survive."

Roux said nothing back. Kirunak began to dig through Yalitza's pockets, and found the elven jewelry set that Yalitza found earlier. Fumbling with them in his hands, he threw them at Roux.

"Avarice. It is good, little elf."

Still not answering, Roux turned around and left. Yalitza was still unconscious, and would likely never see the light of day again. Roux walked with her head down and entered the corridor. Her distance was not far, however, as she bumped into a person taller than her. She looked up and saw Gale. Gale stared down at her, and Roux's eyes widened. Not once had she ever seen Gale's face look… _angry_.

Roux's robes were clearly damaged, and there was an obvious weariness upon Roux's body. To add on, the sight of Yalitza not being with Roux just made the issue even more apparent. Both she and Yalitza had forgotten that Gale was to come by and aid them in the fortress clearing… but it seemed to be too late.

"Gale, we – I –"

"Move aside. Stay here. Don't even _look_ back. Just make sure nobody else comes by."

Roux did as commanded. Roux moved aside, stood still, and began to cry softly. Before Gale left to the room with the drevanul demon, he handed her some potions and a small bag of spiritshots.

"These are _blessed_ spiritshots, even more costly than the normal ones. Don't be stupid with them. I'll be back."

Roux stood there in silence. Not a sound or even conversation was exchanged between Gale and Kirunak. She continued to tear up and wiped her nose. Guilt was the overbearing emotion – moreso than the panic and adrenaline she continued to carry with her at that very moment. Conversation just zoomed through her head, ideas and pictures of the previous battle as well. She couldn't comprehend any of it except for the fact that she had left Yalitza to die due to her irresponsibility and cowardness. Before she knew it, Gale had come back with Yalitza carried on his rear and asked her to help get Yalitza's stuff. He waited for Roux at the corridor exit.

Walking back into the room, Roux was met with surprise. There were no corpses. No bones. No blood. Even where Yalitza had lay earlier, the pool was gone. It was _impossible_ for an Elder to do that – killing demons _alone _was one thing already, but how could he rid of all of the blood and bodies? She shook her head. Roux figured she was just delirious from earlier, and picked up Yalitza's bag and staff. Continuing on, Roux and Gale had left the fortress.

Gale never bothered to cast a healing spell on Yalitza or Roux, and it was distressing. Roux was unsure whether or not to ask at this time, but asked anyway – for Yalitza's sake.

"Gale… Do you think you could cast a quick battle heal on Yalitza? To stop the bleeding?"

"I can't right now."

"Excuse me…? You're an oracle, aren't–"

"I just said _I can't_! Leave it at that, Roux."

Roux flinched at the response, but continued to press on.

"Gale, that drevanul–"

"I am under no obligation to answer."

"_Dammit Gale!_"

"I was the one who saved both you and Yalitza. Don't ask questions, just be grateful."

Yalitza stirred on Gale's back, but said nothing. She could slightly hear the argument, but it did not seem to click through her head. She shifted her body, then drifted back to sleep.

Roux said nothing, and walked back to the village in silence with Gale. On the way, she chucked the elven jewelry set on the ground


End file.
